Subject taught
- Biology

Link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke140nuy15E

Type of Product
- Videos

Language Skills Developed
- Listening
- Reading

Transferable/Scientific Skills Developed
To observe, analyze and describe phenomena belonging to natural reality and to the aspects of daily life To formulate hypothesis and verify them To use simple schematizations and modelling To acquire and understand information and know how to connect it To face problematic situations

Description
General aims
The general aim is to stimulate the students to a sensible and concrete awareness regarding global issues about the development and conservation of life on our planet.
The greenhouse effect is an increasingly current problem about whose effects on the climate people are worrying more and more.
Its consequences led to climate change and worsening in many areas of our planet. Drought seems to be one of the main consequences with disastrous effects both for fauna and, especially, for vegetation.

Linguistic aims
• Improving language skills in L2
• Enriching scientific vocabulary
• Knowing how to move from one linguistic register to another
• Producing clear and coherent texts in L2
• Summarizing written texts

Subject specific aims
• To understand the role the atmosphere is playing in the greenhouse effect;
• To understand the functioning of a greenhouse;
• To identify the greenhouse gases present in the atmosphere and understand how they are mainly responsible for the rise of temperature;
• To understand how different human actions are responsible for the increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases, especially CO2,
• To understand what possible measures can be undertaken to protect our planet.

Target group age
14-15 age

Level of competence in English (CEFR)
B1

Time required to use the resource with the students
2 h - 1h presentation and analysis of the resource
1h confrontation and discussion with the class

How to use it
This resource is very simple, it serves as an introduction. In a clear and simple way, a cartoon explains what the greenhouse effect is, why it is called in this way and what causes are determining it.
After the video, the teacher divides the class into small groups who have to analyze and study the proposed resource by building a list with all the new vocabulary acquired. Furthermore, after examining some images provided by the teacher, they must build a short questionnaire which can be formulated with open or closed questions.
In addition, students will have to produce a short report with personal suggestions to solve the problem or part of it. In the second meeting, after a brainstorming, analysis, resource data and possible solutions will be compared and the questionnaires produced by the various groups will be administered. All the work will then be included in the final one which will cover the entire learning unit. The work can be produced in Power Points, through videos, audio interviews, animations, so that digital skills are further encouraged.
The work will be presented to different classes

Possible difficulties for the students
It is an easy resource that does not present difficulties for students neither for the contents nor for the language

Comments
Strength/Weakness The resource exposes the concepts in a clear, simple and funny way, even if it is not exhaustive Scientific reliability The source is the ESA (European Space Agency), a site that also deals with scientific dissemination for young students. It is a reliable site and the educational videos are truly captivating for a young audience. Pedagogical value (e.g. collaborative learning, self–directed learning, peer assisted learning, etc) The methodologies used for this resource are: Cooperative Learning, flipped classroom, brainstorming and problem solving. The cooperative learning takes place working together, through mutual help which also promotes socialization. The linguistic competence of everyone is a valid mutual support for all students. Researches show this methodology is very effective, allowing students to achieve prefixed goals, stimulating their potentialities and critical capacities, leading them to better self-confidence and helping them to overcome stress and anxiety. The flipped classroom has the advantage of saving a lot of time in the classroom because the students can study at home before school lessons. The teacher must "guide", encourage, support students in personal research, collaboration, sharing and comparing knowledge, but he must pay the highest attention to the personal resources selected by the students. Therefore, different videos and e-learning resources are widely used at home, while in the classroom students experiment, collaborate, carry out laboratory activities and start discussions with each other to clarify and discuss the concepts learned independently. In this way, the student "learns to learn" and becomes an "active" person in his learning process. The brainstorming is essential for this type of activity because by comparison of different ideas, it stimulates and encourages student's creativity. Furthermore, through this methodology, the students can express themselves without any conditioning, learning to overcome anxieties and fears and acquiring greater self-confidence Finally, problem solving is a very important learning method because it develops a series of fundamental skills for students. In fact, this method develops the ability to analyze and evaluate one's cognitive activity. It stimulates creative thinking, as opposed to the reproductive one which proceeds by automatisms. A creative approach allows to analyse the problem from different points of view, to have a global vision of the situation, to grasp the various aspects of the problem and the links connecting them. Finally, it develops a critical spirit to face a global and ever-changing reality

Related Video Lessons

The Greenhouse Effect

The Biogeochemical Cycle of Carbon